[Baseball] First Game of the (Pre) Season
I have officially gotten my first ticket to see the Giants this year!
Athletics at Giants
Friday, 3/30/07
at 7:15PM PST
Chris, Dan, James and I are all going... I can't wait!!!
Giants games on Friday nights are officially the best way to party without doing anything illegal ;)
SF Giants Header Images for Regulus Theme
I just made a few header images for the Regulus Theme... If you're a Giants fan, feel free to use any of them.
Giants:
Baker Beach:
My View on Software and the Google PC
There are a few things that nobody will change my mind on. And how I see software is one of them. When I say software, I am talking about desktop software and online "software" (web applications).
- All software should be free
- In some situations this is not possible for big companies like Sun, Microsoft, and Oracle to sustain their profitibility if this rule was standard. The only thing I have to say to companies with these models: the Future is coming, and it's not going to be nice to you.
- I believe in open systems, especially when the user is generating the content. Data is data, and shouldn't be bound by any program, operating system, or website.
- When there is private information that is stored, that data should be handled diferrently. SSN and Credit Card #'s are not included in my definition of free data -- it is too easy for someone to hack that and do something malicious.
- Business models should look like this:
- Advertisements
- Advertisements
- Advertisements
- ;)
- Security, security, security. This is an engineer's #1 responsibility, everything else in an application falls below that as far as importance.
- In education, ALL SOFTWARE SHOULD BE FREE. No questions asked.
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Those is one more thing that I have been thinking a lot about lately... Here is my prediction:
In the future, nobody is going to need to have hard drives inside their laptops/desktops. Everyone is going to have access to their own computer using Remote Desktop. Google is going to be the first company to test this out, since they are probably in the best position to try something like this. This is what computing will look like:
First off, nobody will have or need a Microsoft operating system. All the operating system on "home" computers will simply be modems that handle speeds of 100mbps, or whatever speed you want. So you will turn on your computer, and about 5 seconds after startup you will sign into your Google PC. You can access your Google PC from anywhere in the world; the only thing you will need is an internet connection, and in 15 years [insert time prediction], the entire world will be one big wireless network. Once you've signed into Google PC, it will load up your personal desktop. It will look exactly like your current computer does, except that it will be running on the Google OS (which will just be the current OS on their servers, but customized for useability and mass adoption). On the Google OS, you can do everything you currently do on Windows XP or a Mac (or even Linux). You can install new applications, and everything is, YOU GUESSED IT, 100% free and supported by advertisers. Speaking of great free applications, the MS Office killer, OpenOffice.org, is amazing. I already am highly recommending this application suite to everyone after using it for 3 days.
Why is this going to happen ? Because it needs to happen if everyone is going to be able to have a computer in their hands. With this new way of life, "desktop" computers, and "laptops" (all they would be is modems with a graphics card and a display) would be dirt cheap so that everyone could afford one. This, IMO, is the only way that Bill Gate's dream of getting a PC to every person in the world, will be achieved. It's the most cost effective way, and it makes the most sense once we have the infrastructure to support it (i.e., faster connections). And who wins out of all of this ?
Google and the Customer.
Sidenote: I'm going to Google on Thursday! I'm so excited, I would have never dreamt that this would happen a year ago... Ah, nothing as rewarding as the benefits of hard work ;)
Buying Music on iTunes — My Experiences
Recently, I've been buying all my music off of iTunes. I used to buy the CDs from Best Buy when they came out, but wow, after using iTunes, I'll never go down to the store again. Talk about convenience! The only thing that I don't get from iTunes is the little booklet that comes inside CDs you buy at the store. I kind of miss those, but in reality, I usually just look at them once and never pick them up again (especially the ones that don't print the lyrics). I've bought over 100 songs on iTunes now (not much compared to a library of 1000+) and I am "hooked" on it, if you will.
Most kids my age don't bother to pay money for their music. They do have legitimate reasons:
- I make minimum wage -- $8/hr
- LimeWire and BitTorrent are always free and easy
- Artists already have enough money, there's no point in me giving them more
- I have ANTI-CAPITALIST tattooed on my arm! (I've seen a guy with this)
- I am so original that the bands I listen to aren't on iTunes (only good excuse here)
- I like the band, but they aren't worth my money (I used this excuse forever)
So here is my rebuttal to those excuses:
- You should have learned Ruby on Rails when you were in 8th grade. You would be making upwarsd of $80/hr now :p. No but seriously, learn a skill and charge money for it.
- I have downloaded hundreds of songs from LimeWire -- almost all of it Rap music. I really don't feel the need to support people that shoot eachother for "turf"... Hahaha
- They have a lot of money because they are talented, a lot of people like them, usually MTV made them, and I respect the fact that Viacom took the risk of making them. I'm not going to lie, I don't have what it takes to build the next Viacom... Gotta respect "the man" ;)
- For everyone out there that is "anti-capitalistic", I really pity you. Money makes the world go 'round, I've said this a million times over. You have to eat to live, and food doesn't come out of heaven like it did in the days of Moses (manna :p)
- This is actually a good excuse. I don't know what to say except... Those bands suck hahaha
- Quick solution to this problem: if they aren't worth your money, they aren't worth your time. The saying goes "time is money", hence my reasoning behind that statement. I only buy music that I deem "worthy" of my money and [listening] time.
The reason why I prefer buying music to downloading it is because:
- Quality of paid for content always trumps illegally obtained content
- The Album Artwork is always right... Haha, I hate when Album Artwork is wrong
- When people at school are talking about all the songs they have been downloading, you can tell them how superior you are because you buy your music (hahaha juust kidding)
- YOU FEEL GOOD about the songs that you've bought when you listen to them. You aren't thinking... Wow, I could actually get thrown in jail because I have this illegal content on my computer (I know, I know, chances of that are one in a billion). But, it's a good feelinggg ;)
Moral of post: Buy Music on iTunes.
The Greatest Movie Ever
I'm watching my favorite movie ever right now: Fever Pitch. Definitely the greatest movie of all time ;)And I can't wait for the Giants games to start!!
Ahh, the Suburbs
I thought this was hilarious... From Paul Graham's Why Nerds are Unpopular essay
If I could go back and give my thirteen year old self some advice, the main thing I'd tell him would be to stick his head up and look around. I didn't really grasp it at the time, but the whole world we lived in was as fake as a Twinkie. Not just school, but the entire town. Why do people move to suburbia? To have kids! So no wonder it seemed boring and sterile. The whole place was a giant nursery, an artificial town created explicitly for the purpose of breeding children
Where I grew up, it felt as if there was nowhere to go, and nothing to do. This was no accident. Suburbs are deliberately designed to exclude the outside world, because it contains things that could endanger children.
And as for the schools, they were just holding pens within this fake world. Officially the purpose of schools is to teach kids. In fact their primary purpose is to keep kids locked up in one place for a big chunk of the day so adults can get things done. And I have no problem with this: in a specialized industrial society, it would be a disaster to have kids running around loose.
What bothers me is not that the kids are kept in prisons, but that (a) they aren't told about it, and (b) the prisons are run mostly by the inmates. Kids are sent off to spend six years memorizing meaningless facts in a world ruled by a caste of giants who run after an oblong brown ball, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. And if they balk at this surreal cocktail, they're called misfits.
If Only Paul Graham could come to Graduation…
In 2005, Paul Graham wrote a speech to high school kids. He comments that he was never able to give the speech, but I wish he could come to my school and give it at my Graduation. To say that it is amazing would be an understatement. I got a kick out of one of the footnotes:
Your teachers are always telling you to behave like adults. I wonder if they'd like it if you did. You may be loud and disorganized, but you're very docile compared to adults. If you actually started acting like adults, it would be just as if a bunch of adults had been transposed into your bodies. Imagine the reaction of an FBI agent or taxi driver or reporter to being told they had to ask permission to go the bathroom, and only one person could go at a time. To say nothing of the things you're taught. If a bunch of actual adults suddenly found themselves trapped in high school, the first thing they'd do is form a union and renegotiate all the rules with the administration.
This speech will really change your life (if you're in high school). And his essay on nerds and popularity is also a great read.
Rant on Education
I feel like I am stagnating in my "traditional" education at high school right now.
When I can't see the current/future value in what I am learning, it becomes completely pointless and irrelevant to me. I understand why they want to teach people in Primary School all the concepts and stuff, but the only way you are going to really learn something is if you go out and learn on your own. When I say "learn on your own", I am talking about picking up books, or going and doing an internship in a field that you want to be in, or simply Googling a subject and finding out everything there is to know about it. I learned more about Silicon Valley working for MonVia in these last few months than any teacher could have ever taught me.
The best way to learn something is just by going out and doing it; book knowledge is good to an extent. I'm not saying that reading isn't useful -- it definitely helps out a lot. I believe that being able to read and synthesizing valuable tangible information will open up more doors for you than anything else you can do while you still young. But I am tired of "Information Overload". How is knowing about an Amoeba going to help me when I am out in the real world trying to make a living? Shouldn't my education be more focused on something tangible? Capitalism? Managing money? How about a course based on Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor? At least learning about this stuff will help me put food in my stomach after High School is over.
I am glad for everything I learned up until 8th grade. Then I got into high school and took all these science classes that I could have cared less about (still don't care for them). I did terribly in all of them (B's and C's) because I never saw any value in what I was learning. It was, and still is, useless information to Sam Purtill. I am never going to give a **** about the Periodic Table; it's not something that I will ever specialize in. I'm sure there are some kids in my school that are fascinated by the Periodic Table and how many electrons are in Plutonium. Great for them, let them take the Science classes (Mrs. Rausch and Mrs. Page are awesome teachers) and let them know that information. When I have a question about Plutonium, I'll go to them and ask. I don't need to know everything!!
I am so tired of Information Overload though. It is the result of the internet. I don't care about EVERYTHING; I'm never going to act like I do.
I do believe there are three things that everyone should be proficient in by the end of High School:
- English - writing and speaking
- Math - up to Algebra 2
- Spanish - this should be taught starting in Kindergarten. Everyone legal US Citizen in California needs to speak Spanish fluently if they want to survive in 15 years
And beyond that, kids should start specializing. They should find something they like and start taking classes in it. I wish there were Java courses. Computer Science courses. Something that I actually care about and would be extremely motivated to do. I garauntee if we had a Computer Science class at my school I would get 100% in it every single semester.
Education needs help: there are three things I want in my education.
- Tangible - the instructor should be able to explain to me why I need to know this crap
- Valuable - this is going to take me farther in life if I learn it
- Relevant - wake up call: this is the 21st century. Would any of this information matter to me now if I went out and got a job?
I don't like things the way they are.
This movie looks great
An Unreasonable Man. It's about Ralph Nader
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ycR36N68R8]
Great video explanation of Web 2.0
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE]
This video is amazing; it takes gives people that don't know what Web 2.0 a better understanding of the revolution that is going on right now. (Yes, I found this on Digg)